Episodes

Ingrid Victoria Ruth Anderson of Chimera Lashes is a lash designer, makeup artist, and self-proclaimed “idea person” who realized she needed to focus on just one of her ideas in order to make a big impact. Before turning to lashes, she previously created a number of different handmade products include Panties with a Pocket and The Crocheted Beard. In this episode, we also talk about finding a business partner to help balance the business side of things with the more creative aspects of...

Wesley Henderson is an “entrepreneur’s lawyer” based in Charleston, South Carolina. In this episode, we talk about the legal basics of starting a new small business, such as forming a legal business entity like an LLC, as well as the basic kinds of contracts a small business might need to protect themselves. We also talk about some intellectual property basics, such as trademarks and fair use, as they pertain to artists and creatives.

Jeanetta Gonzales is a Los Angeles-based artist, illustrator, surface pattern designer, coach and brand consultant for artists. In this episode, we talk about art licensing and Jeanetta shares her advice for developing a cohesive and authentic brand. She also shares how she made the leap from a day job with Mattel designing packaging for Barbie to working on her own.

Alexandra Franzen is a writer, consultant, and entrepreneur based in Portland, Oregon. Her writing about creativity, productivity, goal-setting, handling adversity, disappointment, and fear, and how we can all use our gifts to create a positive ripple in the world has been featured in places like Time, Forbes, Newsweek, The Huffington Post, and Lifehacker.
Her newest book is called You’re Going to Survive. It’s a book about how to deal with stressful, discouraging times in your career,...

Midori Tajiri-Byrd is a master at juggling multiple creative pursuits. As a descendant of Japanese samurai, she grew up in a family of artists and attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. These days, she makes her living as a professional makeup artist and she performs drag as LibeRaunchy the BeauxQueen.
I met Midori while we were doing Cycle 2 of the New Orleans Drag Workshop in 2014. We recorded this episode in her art studio, where we were joined by local photographer Jason...

Tarsila Krüse is an award-winning children's book illustrator living in Dublin, Ireland. Originally from Brazil, she got her start designing souvenirs after moving to Ireland 11 years ago. In this episode, she shares her creative process, how she transitioned to illustrating children’s books, and what it’s like to work with publishers.

Robin Barnes, aka the “Songbird of New Orleans” grew up in a musical family and now sees herself as a cultural ambassador of New Orleans. In this episode, she shares how her background in business helped her to create a successful career in music, and how a life-changing health scare inspired her to start her second business, Move Ya Brass, a cardio fitness training program.

Dynamo is a sexual health and wellness focused romantic boutique based in New Orleans. On this episode, I chat with co-owners Hope Kodman Von Starnes and Nico Darling about business partnerships and the hurdles they overcame to open up a brick and mortar retail boutique, including using crowdfunding via IndieGoGo to fund the renovation of their building.

Monique Malcolm is the host of the Pimp Your Brilliance podcast and creator of the Visionary Journal, a goal setting system & planner. We talk about how she went from fashion blogger to t-shirt designer to goal setting guru. Monique walks us through the process of taking a physical product from idea to first iteration to manufactured product. She shares the importance of connecting with her email list and Facebook contacts to use Kickstarter to pre-sell her product, and how she’s used...

Beth Miller is the Executive Director of the Creative Education Foundation, a non-profit which produces CPSI, the world’s longest-running creativity conference. We talk about deliberate creativity, embracing vulnerability, and how a paper Beth wrote as an undergraduate has been adapted into a play.

Juliet Meeks is a full time artist and surface designer whose work has been featured on products from Birchbox. We talk about how she prepared to quit her day job as a graphic designer, how she got started printing her designs on fabrics, and how she makes extra money by teaching online classes via Skillshare.

Gary Hirsch uses visual art and improv theatre to help communities and businesses be more creative. In this episode, he talks about letting other people steal his creative ideas, finding ways to offer value to people, and the logistics of creating large scale murals.

Nikki Cade made the leap from special education teacher to full-time artist a year ago. She’s a world traveler whose work reflects her love of travel. We talk about following your intuition and how she got her work featured at Pottery Barn and Anthropologie.

How do you get your creative momentum back after taking a break? How do you set your artistic intentions for a new year?
In this episode, Mallory shares her plan for a daily art project in 2018, why she changed her username on Instagram, and why “community” and “vulnerability” are her words for the year.

Melissa Capps works with creative businesses to help them understand their financials, from bookkeeping basics to their profit strategy. In this episode, she shares the money mistake she sees creative business owners make most often.

Nathan Allotey is a web designer and digital marketing strategist with a passion to teach others. On this episode, we talk about how freelancers and other creatives can successfully price their work and raise their prices.

Marrus is a New Orleans painter who’s been turning the fantastical pictures in her head into a roof over it since 1992. We discuss the journey that’s taken her from comic book artist to painting faces at Renaissance faires and beyond. We talk about the importance of being genuine, sharing sacred knowledge, attracting your tribe, and getting uncomfortable as an artist.